Pros about this book:
- alternating timelines
- the storyline
That being said, I just did not connect with the characters in this book. They felt a bit shallow and a bit bland for my liking and for my interest. I wanted a lot more depth and better execution considering how powerful and emotional the synopsis of this book sounded.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Casey Cassidy found the love of her life in a chance encounter. One year later her heart is shattered and her life changed forever. When her friend offers her a home in France, she jumps at the chance to escape from the memories. But she needs to come to terms with what happened in the past year and find away to move on. This book goes from the present to the past year to explain her heartache!


Thanks to Debbie Howells and Boldwood Books for this book!

Thanks NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Debbie Howells for an ARC to review.
An emotional heartbreaking tale touching vast number of serious issues..loss, grief, depression, mental illness and stigma, our crimes against the only planet we live in.

I think this story will sit with me for awhile. The story is told in alternating years, the current one and the year prior. Igor about the first half of those story you know something bad has happened and although you can assume the way the story is good, there’s a good build to the inevitable.
Themes of suicide, grief, redemption and forgiveness.

Ben and Casey are fated to be together. Meeting by chance, their whirlwind romance is the stuff that dreams are made of. They are on track to live happily ever after when tragedy strikes. In this dual timeline book we get to meet Casey and Ben at the very beginning of their relationship but we also have Casey one year later, dealing with the aftermath.

I found this quite a weak story. I guessed what had happened pretty early on and I also knew who the diary belonged to. It was all just a bit simplistic. It wasn’t a bad read, but I neither was I desperate to read on. As my daughter would say, it’s just not my vibe. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this arc.

This life-affirming story features Casey and Ben who meet when she leaves her passport at home and misses a flight. Ben becomes her once in a lifetime love and she’s shattered a year later when he leaves her. Casey learns to grieve over what was, what could have been and the world she now lives in.

Told in a dual timeline (before/after) in Casey’s point of view, she shows us that life goes on and we have to navigate the twists, expected or not. Casey gets us thinking about change and the dark moments that have us digging for our strength and light. She brings us to the conclusion that hope is often found in the unlikeliest of places. Set in Sussex and in rural France, Casey’s story highlights mental illness and untimely loss and the ripple effect.

I learned about eco-grief, the sadness felt for the planet we’re slowly destroying, and solastalgia, the homesickness for a way of life that doesn’t exist anymore. I think we can all identify with these feelings. Isolation and anxiety have played a huge role in the past few years and Howell’s latest will resonate with a wide audience.

Inspired by life in a quiet part of rural France, Howells has switched from writing her trademark psychological thrillers to women’s fiction books about family, friendship, love and loss. She highlights the time of change that we now live in and the life shocks that some of us receive. Transformation as a result of the light and strength we all possess is the focus for her next 5 books to be published. Readers will still be able to enjoy one more thriller to be published in 2023.

I was gifted this advance copy by Debbie Howells, Boldwood Books, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I had high hopes for this book after the great reviews. But this book seemed to drag on and was very depressing. I figured out what happened to Ben pretty early on and this was just one long year after he was gone.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Boldwood Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Sad story I had a difficult time connecting.

Warning: this is a very sad book. Keep the tissues handy. As I dived in, I kept asking myself ok, what happened here. Eventually the story unfurls. Casey is in the present but then also a year ago, until the two timelines collide. I discerned what happened halfway through.
The book left me feeling conflicted. I’ve dealt with a partner who had a mental illness and although the outcome was different, reading this book stirred up unwanted memories.

The life you left behind tells the story of Casey Cassidy and Ben. Cassidy is a young woman trying Tonfilm every day with as much auction as possible, Ben is a young man who cares deeply for the environment. It is told in alternating chapters of before and after and from Casey’s point of view.
To get her life back together, Casey takes up her friends offer of using a house in rural France to come to terms with her new life.

Sadly I didn’t like this book. It was a little bit like PS I love you but not as good. I couldn’t connect with Casey at all and didn’t like Ben. The after chapters are when Ben has left Cassidy and at first it isn’t 100% clear if Ben just broke up with Casey or worse. And to be honest I find he exaggerated completely. There could’ve been a better solution, especially from his family. The reason for Casey being left alone is… foolish.
The summary makes it seem like it’s some fated love story with the „one moment can change your life“ but Ben is such an unlikable character, it was hard to connect.

I thought this book was really good & will be recommending it to others. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review this book.

The Vow and The Secret by Howells was an addictive read.
When I seen a romance novel by this author I had to try and get it!

The Life You Left Behind
by Debbie Howells
Is an excellent, exciting story. This book had my attention the whole way through; i was honestly hooked right away.
The development is done extremely well. And Howells writing is one for the books!

Boldwood Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

Casey meets Ben at the airport when she forgets her passport. He decides to help a gal out and after their meet cute they form a romantic relationship. This story of love lost and found broke my heart. Told from Casey's point of view, with alternating chapters of before and after, I was invested in this story from get go.

The story was heartbreaking, romantic and uplifting all at the same time. This is Ms. Howells first foray into women's fiction and she hit it out of the park. It was so nice to be curled up with this one and taken to the French countryside while 60 cm (or 23 inches) of snow fell around me. I would also like to note that I had no idea what solastalgia or eco-grief was before reading this. It's nice to learn something while being entertained.

Such an enjoyable read. Casey is trying to come to terms with the loss of Ben. She met him at the airport when she missed her flight. The story moves between the past and present. She's moved to a rural house in France where she finds a diary and begins to read it. I loved the many layers to this story. The sadness that Ben felt about the world. The way that Brad felt it too. The diary was so sweet even more so when it was revealed who wrote it. Its quite a pacy read in the beginning and I was left needing to know more after each chapter. I've read other books by this author but this is the first of this genre and I think shes nailed it.